The Red Hat Society
The Red Hat Society was founded in California in 1998 by two ladies who, reaching fifty and having seen the poem “Warning” by Jenny Joseph, gave each other red hats and went out to tea wearing their hats and purple dresses. The first paragraph of the poem is reproduced below:
When I am an old woman I shall wear purple
With a red hat which doesn't go, and doesn't suit me.
And I shall spend my pension on brandy and summer gloves
And satin sandals, and say we've no money for butter.
I shall sit down on the pavement when I'm tired
And gobble up samples in shops and press alarm bells
And run my stick along the public railings
And make up for the sobriety of my youth.
I shall go out in my slippers in the rain
And pick flowers in other people's gardens
And learn to spit.
In no time at all the society became a global phenomenon. Members can be found all over the world now and there are over a hundred chapters in Britain. The first red fedora and feather boa, worn by the founder, Sue Ellen Cooper, on that day is now exhibited in the Smithsonian Museum in Washington!
When I am an old woman I shall wear purple
With a red hat which doesn't go, and doesn't suit me.
And I shall spend my pension on brandy and summer gloves
And satin sandals, and say we've no money for butter.
I shall sit down on the pavement when I'm tired
And gobble up samples in shops and press alarm bells
And run my stick along the public railings
And make up for the sobriety of my youth.
I shall go out in my slippers in the rain
And pick flowers in other people's gardens
And learn to spit.
In no time at all the society became a global phenomenon. Members can be found all over the world now and there are over a hundred chapters in Britain. The first red fedora and feather boa, worn by the founder, Sue Ellen Cooper, on that day is now exhibited in the Smithsonian Museum in Washington!
Chapter 74908
We are the original Bardwell Batty Bees (chapter number 74908): the first official Red Hat Chapter in Suffolk and hosts of the reportedly “stupendous” “Festival in the Forest” at Center parcs Elveden in 2012, where we first performed our own anthem in public, sung to the tune of Arthur Askey’s famous “Buzzy Bee” song.
The chapter was founded in October 2007 by Dorry Squirrell (then Taylor) when she found herself living in a new village where she knew no one.
The chapter quickly went from strength to strength, having at it’s peak more than forty members, until Dorry’s health began to falter in late 2013. The chapter is now much smaller and limited in it’s activities, but still welcomes ladies looking for fun, friendship and kindness and support through life’s tribulations. We do still have fun and make a point of joining with other chapters whenever possible.
The chapter was founded in October 2007 by Dorry Squirrell (then Taylor) when she found herself living in a new village where she knew no one.
The chapter quickly went from strength to strength, having at it’s peak more than forty members, until Dorry’s health began to falter in late 2013. The chapter is now much smaller and limited in it’s activities, but still welcomes ladies looking for fun, friendship and kindness and support through life’s tribulations. We do still have fun and make a point of joining with other chapters whenever possible.